Week 4 – Tempo time

Week 4 – Tempo time

Monday.  Tempo run 17.01 km . 1.09:51. 4:06 km minute pace. Avg 176 BPM

Tuesday. Tempo run 17.01 km . 1.11:44. 4:13 km minute pace. Avg 169 BPM

Wednesday. Tempo run 17.01 km . 1.13:38. 4:20 km minute pace. Avg 164 BPM

Thursday.  Tempo run 17.01 km. 1:10:53. 4:10 km minute pace. Avg 168 BPM

Friday. Long run 32.02 km. 2:16:35. 4:16 km minute pace. Avg 167 BPM

Saturday. Tempo run 17.01 km  1:08:31. 4:02 km minute pace. Avg 166 BPM

Total  117km / 72.74 miles

So this was holiday week, went to America for some relaxation.  When I don’t have any races coming up I stop running altogether for the week or so that I’m away, but if I do that it generally takes me a few weeks to get back to pre holiday fitness.  I find that even one or two paced runs whilst on holiday can keep you at the same fitness.  So the target of this week was not to lose any fitness.

Where we stayed there was a convenient 2.1 km loop around the estate which is perfectly flat without any interruption.  This is strange for me because if I run at home its generally hilly and my working week sessions are generally around busy roads with traffic lights etc.   So all my excuses for slowness go out the window.

Monday – Early rise and a nice tempo run.  It was hotter than back home, second half faster than the first.

Tuesday – Much the same as Monday albeit slower.

Wednesday – Difficult run today.  This was the first run in my new trainers I bought in America (New Balance 720’s) they are very bouncy on the heel, not something I am used to.  It was a bit hotter than Monday / Tuesday and my legs really felt tired.  I was expecting the week to go down hill from here but luckily it didn’t.

Thursday – Tempo run again. Legs have got used to my new trainers; I’m on my forefoot more because the bounce of the heel is strange.  

Friday – Long run.  I set out in the pitch dark in the middle of a thunderstorm.  I really wanted to get the twenty miler in as this would promote the week from a staying fit week to a regular Marathon training weeks load.  The Garmin is useless in the wet, you have to lock the Besel and as its night time you can’t put the backlight on.  I have since worked out how to do it, but its not easy.   So the first half in the dark and thunder was largely blind for pace.  The lightning moved out to the distance, its generally considered dangerous to run during a thunderstorm so I was prepared to go back inside.  The criteria for quitting was that the thunder and lightning are very close, which I believe indicates the storm’s centre is overhead.  It didn’t get that bad.   The first half was wet, the garmin confirmed later that it didn’t really slow me down.    20 miles is 15 laps of the estate, the way I progressed through that was to get to lap 7 then imagine I’m starting out again on my regular 8 laper.  As the sun came out the rain stopped and I could pace myself off the Garmin.  It wasn’t pleasant running as the previous 4 tempo runs took their toll on me.  I was determined to finish the last 5 laps faster which I just about managed, but took a lot of will power and pushing.   Get back to the place we are staying at 7:45 local satisfied that I completed a long run.  The pace turned out to be just shy of 3 hour marathon pace, so not too bad either.  The other thing I learned is that 5 miles does not exactly equal 8km, so I had to settle for 19.9 miles.

Saturday – Good final blast.  The previous 5 days runs had all been anti clockwise.  This might sound strange but the constant left turning had resulted in my left leg having strange sensations, so for the last day I go clock wise.    The first km comes up at 4:24, I’m not sure if the Garmin was wrong or I was slower but I didn’t want to risk it.  So I push the next km and get under 4 minutes.  The change of direction is welcome and I find the motivation to maintain the pace the entire run and set a record tempo run on my last day after a heavy weeks mileage.

Heading back home on the plane, I reflected that it had been a very good week running.  I don’t think many people actually enjoy running on holiday, so making all runs tempo gave most bang for the buck for the time.  Getting it out of the way first thing was also great as it left the rest of the day to enjoy.  I’m also thinking that if I can find the motivation to do a 70 mile week on holiday then it bodes well for the rest of the training.